Berlin: Teacher secretly photographed – written reprimand against pupils is permissible

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Chairs in the classroom

Photo: Marijan Murat / dpa

A Berlin student who secretly photographed his teacher in class and sent the pictures must accept a written reprimand. This was decided by the Berlin Administrative Court, dismissing a lawsuit filed by the eighth-grader.

The boy had secretly photographed his class teacher – according to his own statements out of boredom – during the lesson with his tablet. He sent the pictures to an unknown person. Subsequently, they were digitally disseminated to the student body. A class conference under the direction of the teacher concerned decided to give the young person a written reprimand and to enter it on the annual report.

School has pedagogical scope for appreciation

The student lodged an objection to the reprimand, but to no avail. He then filed a lawsuit before the administrative court – unsuccessfully. The written reprimand, as a school disciplinary measure, "has no punitive character, but is a pedagogical measure," the Chamber justified the decision. In addition to the education of the person concerned, this primarily serves to ensure the functioning of the school, in particular the teaching.

The prerequisite is objective breaches of duty on the part of the student. In imposing such a measure, however, the school has a pedagogical margin of appreciation. This is subject to judicial review only to a limited extent. The main question is whether the facts of the case have been correctly established, whether the measure is arbitrary and whether the limits of proportionality are respected.

This was the case here, the court ruled. The student admitted to having taken and sent the photos without consent. In doing so, he had violated the school's house rules, disrupted the course of lessons and violated the teacher's general right of personality.

The written reprimand was proportionate "as the mildest disciplinary measure" in view of the viral distribution of the photos in the school, the associated risk of imitation and the intransigent behavior of the student.

bbr/kha/dpa/AFP